Healthy employees help small business owners improve productivity in a variety of ways, from better attendance to increased performance. Study after study has documented the cost savings and increased benefits to employers when they institute employee wellness initiatives. You don’t need to be a large corporation with a big budget to institute a comprehensive employee wellness program that reduces your costs and boosts your profits.

Decreased Disability Days

Workers injured on the job not only cost employers money in claims, but also reduce work output if those workers can’t be replaced. In addition, workers who try to pick up the slack of absent peers take time away from their own tasks, reducing their effectiveness. Taking into account just lower back pain problems, businesses lose 100 million days of work per year, according to the Wellness Council of America. If your employees regularly lift heavy objects, consider a morning stretching, weight-loss or other physical fitness program aimed at strengthening or reducing stress on the lower back.

Less Distraction

When employees come to work ill or have family members who are sick, they spend time on the phone, texting or emailing doctors, babysitters or family members. A wellness program that helps employees improve their health can help decrease the occurrence of common ailments. Offer flu shots for workers and family members. Set up a lactation room for new mothers to let them feed babies breast milk instead of relying on formula. Offer nutrition seminars or cooking classes to help employees create healthy family meals.

Decreased Absenteeism

In addition to work-related injuries, illnesses such as colds, flu, bronchitis or strep throat keep workers away from the office. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition and lack of exercise can suppress the immune system, making your employees more susceptible to otherwise avoidable maladies. Add wellness tips to your company newsletter or Intranet. Provide healthy snacks, such as fresh fruit or granola bars, in the break room. Set up a workout room at your company or offer discounts to fitness center memberships. Offer a health fair where employees can get a cholesterol test and blood pressure check and find other information from health professionals.

Reduced Costs

Wellness programs save a company money. Businesses can see a return of $3 to $5 in reduced health care, workers' comp and absenteeism costs for every $1 they invest, according to the Small Business Wellness Initiative. Consider a smoking-cessation program to help workers kick tobacco habits. A worker who smokes costs his employer approximately $3,400 more than an employee who doesn’t, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wellness Options

Small business owners can create effective wellness programs using low-cost local resources. Have local health professionals give talks on nutrition, stress relief, pre- and postnatal care, exercise and smoking cessation. Publish a wellness newsletter using tips you find from reputable Internet sources or local hospitals or clinics. Outfit an exercise room with dumbbells, resistance bands, kettlebells, exercise mats, medicine balls and other low-cost, secondhand equipment you can buy on Craigslist or at a used sporting goods store. Add a TV or sound system to create more energy in the room. If you can afford a treadmill or other large piece of equipment, you’ll have the feel of a fitness center. Contact your health insurance provider to find out what literature, speakers or other services it can present for your employees.

About the Author

Sam Ashe-Edmunds has been writing and lecturing for decades. He has worked in the corporate and nonprofit arenas as a C-Suite executive, serving on several nonprofit boards. He is an internationally traveled sport science writer and lecturer. He has been published in print publications such as Entrepreneur, Tennis, SI for Kids, Chicago Tribune, Sacramento Bee, and on websites such Smart-Healthy-Living.net, SmartyCents and Youthletic. Edmunds has a bachelor's degree in journalism.